Chapter 3.1: The Million Year Soul Ring
As Huo Yuhao listened to the Skydream Iceworm’s explanation, he suddenly felt a strange feeling. Could it be that the Skydream Iceworm’s name was because it had dreamt everyday?
“Although I wasn’t able to leave the icy cave, eating the ten thousand year Ice Pith simply felt too good. Thus, I was lucky to not be able to find a way out, because I found another large lump of ten thousand year Ice Pith whilst crawling around to look for one. I slept again, but I didn’t even know how long I’d slept for this time—yet the first set of golden patterns had appeared on my body by the time I woke up.”
“A golden pattern has an extremely important meaning to us Iceworms. It signifies that our cultivation has reached a hundred thousand years. From what I remember, our Iceworm clan has never had an existence possess a cultivation of a hundred thousand years. I was the first to do this! This was unprecedented in history! At that time, I evolved into a Gold-patterned Iceworm. I also had sufficient power to break through the ice and leave. However, at that time, I didn’t know that hundred thousand year soul beasts would suffer enormous restrictions, which would make it harder for them to increase their cultivation. Perhaps it was because I was lucky, or perhaps it was because our Iceworm clan has a deficiency of combat strength, but I miraculously didn’t attract any Heavenly Tribulation.” The Skydream Iceworm sighed. “I decided to continue sleeping, since I was too lazy to leave anyway. Thus, I continued to sleep in the icy caves. Because my cultivation had reached a certain level, I was able to break the ice and enter areas which I previously couldn’t. This allowed me to find even more top quality Ice Piths, all of which became my food.
“Just like that, I repeated the cycle of sleeping after eating, and eating after waking up. I didn’t even know how much time had passed. Only the golden patterns on my body were able to tell me how long I’d lived for.”
“In the end, I finished eating all of the Ice Pith within the icy caves one day. I then dug myself out from the bottom of the icy caves, arriving at the ocean. I floated in the ocean, and moved with the tide; I floated along the edge of the continent, eventually moving towards the south. I also encountered my first enemy during this journey.”
“At that time, I already had nine golden patterns, which meant that I was a powerful nine hundred thousand year soul beast. I originally thought that I was an unequalled existence within this world. However…”
As he continued to speak, the Skydream Iceworm clearly became somewhat embarrassed, “However, I’d never done anything nor fought with anyone when I was awake. In the end, I had to rely on my enormous spiritual energy to scare that enemy away. This finally roused my caution, which made me attempt to cultivate the ability to attack. However, I discovered that my cultivation lifespan didn’t mean that I was strong. I was indeed a million year soul beast, but my combat power was in fact inferior to some ten thousand year soul beasts. Those ten thousand year soul beasts that were good at fighting were simply opponents I couldn’t hope to achieve victory over. The outside world was truly too dangerous. However, I didn’t know the way back.”
“I thought that since the ocean was dangerous, perhaps the continent would be safer. Thus, I went ashore. However, I discovered that the continent wasn’t very peaceful either. Maybe it was an effect of absorbing too much Ice Pith, but my body had a special smell that could attract the attention of any and all soul beasts. It caused them to see me as food.”
“In the end, I was captured by a strong hundred thousand year soul beast from the Great Star Dou Forest. However, it didn’t immediately kill me; Instead, it brought me to the Great Star Dou Forest. Only after listening to him did I understand what was going on. As it turned out, I possessed too much Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi. As long as they were able to absorb and transform my energy, any soul beast could become a hundred thousand year soul beast, and any hundred thousand year soul beasts could break free from the limit of their cultivation lifespan. But, it took a long time to absorb my energy, since the energy I’d cultivated for a million years was too enormous. Thus, it brought me back to its nest.”
“However, that fellow underestimated how awesome this Brother is. Although I wasn’t too good at fighting, I was able to increase the strength of my aura. Thus, I was able to attract all of the hundred thousand year soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest. Hehe.”
“The huge battle royale that ensued included nearly every single soul beast in the Great Star Dou Forest whose age exceeded ten thousand. They fought so desperately! I originally thought that I now had a chance to escape. However, who could’ve known that they’d be so crafty? Once the battle had almost ended, they actually stopped and negotiated with each other. In the end, a tragedy occurred to this Brother. They finally came to an agreement, deciding to absorb my power together, since the soulforce in my body was large enough. After that, they trapped me in the centre of the Great Star Dou Forest and forced me to release the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi from my body for them to absorb. The stronger soul beasts would be closer to me, and the benefits they obtained would thus be greater. These bastards practically took this Brother as food.”
“Ai, since I had no way to resist them, I could only let them order me around. I tried to think of a plan to break free from their control whilst having my energy drained by them. My Yuan Qi was very pure, thus there was enough for them to absorb it for over ten thousand years. After a few thousand years of pondering and observing, I discovered that I’d not only need to escape from them, but would also need to conceal my aura to successfully break free from their control. You humans then appeared in my line of sight. There were a few times when some especially strong humans entered the depths of the Great Star Dou Forest to hunt those hundred thousand year soul beasts. Unfortunately, they were struck by a tragedy. Under the nourishment of this Brother, the high ranking soul beasts within the Great Star Dou Forest had definitely become the strongest soul beasts on the Douluo Continent. Although those humans had extremely strong weapons, they could only suffer a big defeat. However, this allowed me to understand the advantages you humans had.”
“Brother is a spiritual and ice dual-attribute soul beast. After thinking about it for a long time, I decided to think of a way to become a human’s soul ring. If this happened, that human would definitely become extraordinarily strong, and I could rely on my spiritual-type attribute to preserve my own consciousness. Thus, I would become an unprecedented intelligent soul ring. Humph, once that happened, Brother would definitely get revenge, and would help that human kill all of the bastards who persecuted this Brother. Hence, I started carrying out my plan. However, who could’ve known that I’d fail on my first attempt? The guy that I chose was what you humans call a Titled Douluo, and he was rather strong. However, he was truly rubbish. He actually exploded immediately, before even seeing my real body. He couldn’t even withstand the shock of my spiritual energy. Only then did I discover that becoming my host wasn’t something so simple. They would first need to have a spiritual-type attribute as well, and be able to sustain the energy of my soul power. This was something that was even harder. Hence, I had no results, even after searching for a few thousand years. At that point, my soulforce had almost been fully drained by those hundred thousand year soul beasts. This Brother would’ve soon become akin to a candle that had no wax left.”
“However, the Heavens still took care of Brother. When Brother had already despaired, the tenth golden pattern appeared on my body. I’d finally become an unprecedented million year soul beast. After the tenth golden pattern appeared, I finally possessed the power to resist those combat-oriented hundred thousand year soul beasts, and I could also conceal my own aura. Thus, I renamed myself as the Skydream Iceworm; I was no longer a Gold-patterned Iceworm. However, I was definitely unable to beat so many hundred thousand year soul beasts. Furthermore, my Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi had almost been fully absorbed by them. The only energy that I still had was my origin soulforce, which was what would provide the greatest aid to them. These were my two great attributes, which had yet to be absorbed. Revenge was something currently unattainable for me. Hence, I found an opportunity, and used the energy that I had obtained after breaking through to conceal my aura. Then, I escaped by burrowing through the earth.”